Tag Archives: Canadian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso has set the fastest time in Friday practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard battled it out with the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers for top spot, and it is still unclear if any team is a clear favourite for this weekend.

First practice

Extreme rain last night meant that the track was soaked come Friday morning. Plans to run Pirelli’s experimental harder tyres were put on hold, as drivers ventured out on the wet tyres.

Over the session, more switched to the intermediates, and eventually slicks with 20 minutes to go.

The main incident of the session was Pastor Maldonado crashing his Williams with 5 minutes to go. He got his entry wrong into Turn 3, spun and slammed head-first into the barriers, putting out the yellow flags for several minutes. Mark Webber is under investigation for potentially speeding at this yellow flag zone.

Jules Bianchi also spun at the same point, but he didn’t hit the barrier. However, an overheating engine quickly put an end to his day.

Paul di Resta ended up on top, after setting an impressive time on his final attempt. Alexander Rossi made his first appearance in a Formula 1 car, and was reportedly delighted after his experience.

The second session saw a topsy-turvy battle between Alonso, Webber, Vettel, Raikkonen, Rosberg and Hamilton, with all of the aforementioned drivers taking top spot at different times.

After initial runs on the Pirelli development tyre, most drivers took a stint each on the medium and super-soft tyres. Alonso’s best time of 1:14.818 was slightly faster than Lewis Hamilton behind.

Brief rainfall saw a quiet end to the session, with most teams opting to finish FP2 on heavy fuel loads. Jenson Button’s session was ended prematurely, as his gearbox continually selected neutral, and eventually failed.